A YEAR AND A HALF, THE START OF KONG  VS GODZILLA ERA.

Kong's massive palms brushed against dew-laden ferns as he trudged along the overgrown eastern ridge of his enclosure, the morning mist clinging to his silver-flecked fur like spectral lace. He'd counted twenty-seven steps to the lichen-crusted boulder every day since, where he paused to pluck bitter orange Garcinia fruits from the thorned branches overhead. Their acidic tang flooded his mouth, a poor substitute for the honeyed figs used to peel for him. Somewhere beyond the false horizon of reinforced polymer walls, a maintenance drone whirred in its faltering orbit, its asymmetrical flight path betraying.

The child's footsteps crunched through dried Muhlenbergia grass with telltale arrhythmia—left shoe squeaking, right dragging slightly. Kong turned to see Jia clutching her latest creation: a 38cm-tall doll woven from genetically stabilized, its button eyes mismatched (one obsidian, one hematite) and straw fingers curled around a miniature trident carved from. Her hospital bracelet peeked beneath a frayed sweater sleeve, the faded text barely legible.

"Look, Kong, it's you!" Her voice cracked like thin ice; the radiation burns on her neck, flushing crimson with effort. "Dr. Chen, let me use the old loom."

The silverback's arthritic knuckles——trembled as he mimed applause, his vocal cords producing the rumbling reserved for trusted humans. Amber warning lights pulsed along the dome's geodesic framework through gaps in the artificial canopy, their reflection warped in the growing network. Unseen beyond the failing environmental buffers, the first tendrils began seeping through the compromised sealant, carrying the metallic tang of the dying world outside.

SCENE BREAK

Control Hub Gamma | 11:47:33 Local Time

Dr. Lien Andrews's security clearance badge trembled against her chest as she leaned over the shuddering holo table, its flickering projection mapping real-time stress fractures across Kong's habitat dome. The air was tinged with the acrid scent of burnt ferrofluid coolant—the leak in Sector 9 had worsened overnight.

"Miss, you'll want to see this."

Security Chief Viktor Marek's cybernetic ocular implant whirred as he handed over the cracked datapad. His left sleeve had ridden up, revealing tattoos of past incident reports from failed extractions—'Jakarta '27,' 'Barcelona Blackout,' 'Project Silverback.'

The screen flashed critical alerts:

[DOMESTIC_ AI] Structural Integrity: 19.7% [ENV_ CONTROL] C-228 Contaminant: 582ppm (LETHAL) [CONTAINMENT] Primary Load-Bearing Struts: 3/18 functional ESTIMATED COLLAPSE WINDOW: 02:47:19 ± 23min

"My team found this during the Sector 12 crawl space inspection." Marek pointed to a pulsing red node marked as Subsidence Origin #9. "The nanite-reinforced polymer has degraded faster than anticipated. This dome won't survive the incoming ion storm."

Andrews absentmindedly traced the grooves of her queen's biometric pendant, its encrypted data chip still warm from constant wear. The security feeds on her wrist console displayed Kong methodically stacking stones by the western waterfall—a behavior they had identified as a sign of stress.

"Evacuation protocols require Level 9 sedation," Marek continued, pulling up Transport Module Blueprint #7. "But considering his cardiomyopathy..."

A proximity alarm blared. The holo table's projection shifted to exterior cameras where C-228 residue crystallized across the dome's surface like a layer of black frost. Andrews's mind raced through the available options:

Route Alpha: Through the compromised North Service Tunnels (38% collapse risk) Route Omega: Across open terrain using Mobile Shield Generator #2 (untested post-EMP) Protocol 9: Euthanasia parameters

Her gaze lingered on footage from Jia's last art therapy session, playing in a small feed— the child clutching her straw Kong doll to her IV-lined chest.

"Prep the modified cryo-chamber," Andrews commanded, her voice cutting through the wailing alarms. "And bring Jia to Decon Bay 3. She's the only one he'll follow willingly now."

SCENE BREAK

Habitat Dome 7 | 14:23:18 Local Time

Kong's auditory cortex implants registered the vibration patterns first—217Hz boot treads, 38 meters to the northwest, matching the biometric signatures of Security Team Beta. His growl emerged as a 12Hz infrasound rumble, causing the cracked polycarbonate viewing panels to vibrate until dust motes danced in the waning UV filtration beams.

Jia's hands communicated through ASL-modified primatology signs:

Flat palm downward sweep – Wait

Index finger circling temple – Think

Clenched fist over heart – Trust

Her radiation-burned legs stumbled through debris from the collapsed mock rainforest canopy, her hospital bracelet catching on a twisted hydration line. Dr. Lien Andrews stood illuminated in the jagged light of Breach Point 9, her hazmat suit's C-228 filtration unit wheezing like a dying accordion.

"Why. Take. Him." Jia's words emerged in the staccato rhythm of her thalamic implant, each syllable syncing with the dome's structural groans.

Lien's gloved finger tapped a shaky holopad displaying real-time collapse projections:

[DOMESTIC_AI] CRITICAL FAILURE IMMINENT EVAC WINDOW: 01:18:47 RECOMMENDED ACTION: IMMEDIATE NEURO-SEDATION

"New facility. Better shields." She gestured toward the Mark V transport pod being equipped with cryo-stabilizers. "His cardiomyopathy can't handle another EMP surge."

Jia's finger traced the freshly sewn nanoweave stitches along her doll's arm—Kong's straw replica now missing its left eye. "Why now?" The dome's primary oxygen recycler exploded three sectors away, scattering shrapnel across the southern meadow. Kong instinctively shielded Jia from the debris.

Lien's helmet visor reflected the approaching ion storm's auroral glow as she entered override codes into Kong's subdermal tracking implant. "Because we're out of time, and you're the only Class 9 empath he'll follow into that pod without sedation."

Dr. Andrews' fingers closed around Jia's wrist with urgent pressure, her medical ID bracelet digging slightly into the younger researcher's skin. The sterile laboratory lights flickered overhead as she pulled Jia toward the emergency exit. "Let's go," she hissed, her usually calm voice fraying at the edges. Behind them, the containment unit's alarm wailed in discordant bursts. "I'm certain Kong would want us to move – that prototype isn't stable, and we can't risk–"

Her words dissolved into action as she shouldered open the reinforced door. Cold night air rushed in, carrying the distant scent of pine from the mountain research facility's surrounding forest. Jia stumbled slightly on the threshold, her white lab coat catching the doorframe, but Dr. Andrews' grip held firm. They moved in synchronized strides across the gravel parking lot, their shadows stretching long under the security floodlights. Somewhere behind them, glass shattered.

SCENEBREAK

The Pacific's black depths shuddered as Godzilla's seismic growl rolled through underwater canyons. Bioluminescent jellyfish scattered like fleeing stars when his massive head swung westward, armored plates flaring electric blue. Through miles of crushing darkness, he felt it - the familiar tectonic disturbance of another alpha moving.

So much for peace.

Brine burned in his scarred nostrils as he recalled the last century's silent pact - volcanic islands for the ape, continental shelves for himself. Now the hairless primates were meddling again, their metal beetles dragging Kong's unconscious form across the seafloor. His tail lashed violently, collapsing a methane ice formation in a storm of crystalline shards.

Changing course required demolishing an entire seamount. He barely noticed the collapsing rock as his atomic heart began its war-rhythm glow, ancient battle songs echoing through marrow that remembered when these waters were shallow swamps. Let them try to hide their stolen king. Every current carried Kong's blood-scent now, and the ocean always flows toward reckoning.